


Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum – if you want peace, prepare for war.

by Handsofred



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek Hale, Alternative Universer - Tribal, BAMF Stiles, Derek Hale is Bad at Feelings, Derek is a Softie, F/M, Female Stiles Stilinski, Forced Marriage/bond at first...kind of if you squint a little, Savage Derek, Tribal, Trigger Warning: Loss Of Child
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-09
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2018-10-01 21:49:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10201349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Handsofred/pseuds/Handsofred
Summary: Fast asleep, the Alpha watched her eyes flicker under their lids with dream. Her mouth twisting down as her skin pulled around three large scars. From just above her left brow to mid cheek, he takes in the old wound, skin raised and jagged like claws.A war wound.





	1. Chapter 1

Nocturnus:  
**_Belonging to the night,_**  
 ** _The wolf is on a hunt tonight._**  
 ** _Sleek and strong, he guides through the trees,_**  
 ** _Eyes alert, ears listening._**  
 ** _Quick! Quick!_**  
 ** _The wolf makes his charge._**  
 ** _Thunder rattles the sky above, lightening strikes._**  
 ** _Glades are shown, tracks a mess._**  
 ** _The wolf has it’s kill tonight_**.

 

The night is silent as his pack crept through the tribe’s village. Above them the sky, painted black and silver with stars guiding them through, passing by huts and sleeping guards as he moved silently towards his target. Somewhere in the distant treetops, a bird sings.

Unaware of the impending violence.

The alpha stalks closer until a small noise causes him to pause and listen, his ears straining as someone coughs in their sleep and turns over, letting the night fall back to its natural silence.

He finds the Chief's hut with ease. Decorated with bones and markings covering the outside. The most elaborate in the whole village. There's a guard positioned outside, a long-staffed weapon in his hands which the Alpha eyes.

He listens from his hidden spot, waiting for a clear moment in which he can circle the hut and find his opening. It isn't until the guard leaves that he has his chance and he moves. The Alpha crept slowly around until he sees it. An opening of a window. Inside the material which keeps the bugs out wavers in the slight breeze, a beacon of welcome for the intruder.

Easing back the material, the Alpha looked through to the dark room, two bodies laid out on a pile of furs. Stirring in sleep as a strong breeze moved through the opening. He watches as the female curled towards the male. Shifting the material more, he lets the moonlight spread out over them.

The Chief and his wife, side by side in peaceful sleep. 

Within the heartbeat inside his chest, the Alpha was climbing through the window, up over the sill. Landing with a quiet pat of his bare feet against the dirt flooring. He watches the couple before him, sees that there is no change. It's another heartbeat spiking, from somewhere deeper in the hut that causes him to tilt his head. Listening, he scents at the air and catches the sweet honey scent and a scent of a fresh rain fall. Turning, he decides to follow it as he passes the Chief and his wife, sparing them for a moment as he moves out of the room.

A quick search of the small hallway led him to another pair, a male curled towards the female closely. A hand sprawled out across a raised stomach. 

He can smell the ripe scent of the pregnancy coming form the woman laid beside him, her body bare from the waist up. The sweet scent belonged to the male as the Alpha crept closer to the sleeping forms. Ignoring him altogether, he moved closer to the female, breathing in the fresh rain scent. His eyes travelled over her form taking in the perked breasts. The Alpha knew they would become heavier with milk soon, rounding them like her stomach. 

For a moment, his eyes moved across to the male beside her. His eyes taking him in and his form before his eyes returned to the woman as she moved and turned her head towards him.

Fast asleep, the Alpha watched her eyes flicker under their lids with dream. Her mouth twisting down as her skin pulled around three large scars. From just above her left brow to mid cheek, he takes in the old wound, skin raised and jagged like claws.

A war wound. 

He can smell the sweet scent of her skin, a soft fruity scent mixing with the rain sweating in the warm heart of summer. She is strong. The Alpha can see that as she shifts again, her body uncomfortable with the temperature. Of the child growing inside her and the way the man clings to her side. A man whose skin is smooth and unmarred, not a single sign of war or even a day's hard work. He is weak and it makes the Alpha bare his sharp teeth towards the sleeping form in anger. This woman, this strong woman who wears the scars of battle for all to see. She did not deserve such a weak man at her side, she did not deserve to have a husband who had skin smooth.

Standing, he snarls low in his throat and he turns and leaves the room. Ignoring the shuffling of the sleeping couple behind him as he made his way back through to the Chief and his wife. As quickly as he had entered, the Alpha was leaving again, leaving not a single trace that he had been there.

In anger, still, he stalks through the village and re-joins his pack, nodding sharply.

They will attack.

Soon.

He comes back often from where they set up camp deep in the surround woods. Watching through the trees and long grass at the woman, the Chief's daughter, he finds out. In the daylight, the Alpha sees how strong she is. The power in her voice and in actions and his wolf growls in deep delight, in want to stake and in want to claim for himself.

He decides.

The weak husband will die if he gets close enough to him. 

It happens a week later. In the dead of night when the skies finally open to a cool rain, breaking the raising temperature. Their howls echo, cutting through the puttering raindrops on leaves and wood. There's a brief moment of silence as the tribe wakes. And wonders what is happening, before they spring in to action. His own pack was already moving through and ripping the throats out of men with weapons who dare to attack them. 

They fight quick and dirtily, almost silent. Their own bodies healing quicker than it takes the rain to wash away the blood. He does his own amount of fighting, dashing here and there to block blows and sharp weapons. The men and woman who don’t fight, the old and their young gather around their Chief's hut.

Young boys holding spears up, as if they could defend their elders from the beasts attacking.

Boys pretending to be men, just an echo of who they will grow in too.

They fight their way closer to the centre, pushing the tribe's people back and closer to their Chief. A man who fought himself too. The man who is dressed in his war attire, his weapon heavy and blooded in his hand as he pants right back at the Alpha.

The Alpha knows what he looks like, shifted in to a Beta form, a head or two taller than his pack as he lets a body fall from his claws. The sound of it hitting the mudded ground with a slap echo's through the space as the rain starts to die off again. A quick shower before the heat comes back. He is fierce, a force to be dealt with as he adjusts his stance and turns his head towards another man darting forward. Weapon raised, ready to meet a target before he is taking down.

''Enough!'' The Chief's voice is loud and commanding. His people take a step back as the Alpha himself raises a hand at the tone. His wolves back off as he waits. One...two...three heartbeats. ''There does not have to be bloodshed no more, tell me what it is that you want and leave my people to live.''

The Alpha stares towards him, eyes glowing in the early morning light. He leaves them waiting, listens to the frightened breathes and sobs coming from the tribe. Tracing his eyes over them all slowly, he lets himself stare towards the strong daughter. Her body is covered only by strips of material across her breasts, heavier with milk like he knew they would be. And yet she stands, shoulders tall and head taller, a spear in her hands, posed, ready to attack. Briefly, his eyes move’s past her to stare at the husband cowered behind her back, his eyes wide with fear.

The Alpha snorted, weak like he thought.

The Alpha turned back to the Chief, watches as the man shifts on his feet, fingers adjusting around his weapon. He drinks in the scents mixing before he raises his hand and points towards his daughter.

''The strong one.'' He speaks, baring his teeth at the gasp that echoed from the Chief's tribe.

  
"She is already taken and with child" The chief calls back, making him snarl.

''Then give the man a weapon and let me fight him.'' The Alpha speaks, his voice is deep and rough from lack of use. Around him, his pack shifts, both in wolf form and on two feet like himself. ''In my culture, we challenge those who seem weak. And take his bride when we win.'' He smirked with a mouth full of sharp teeth. ''Let him fight to defend his wife and child and no more blood will be shed on this ground tonight.''

Letting his words fall silent as he waited, the Alpha could hear the murmurs, the shuffling of their feet. He knew that they were wondering what was going to happen as they look between themselves and to their Chief. The Alpha watched the man's face as he tried to think over everything he had said, he could see the fight he was having. Each moment clear on his face before the Chief was turning to look towards his daughter and the man. The Alpha already knows that he is weak, that the fight would be easy and that his offspring will be weak once born.

He and his pack watched as the woman turned towards her husband, a strong brow raised in silent question. The Alpha can't help but be amused at the offering of her own weapon to him. The man just stares at it before his eyes are flickering over towards the Chief. And it's in that moment, that it becomes clear that the man will not fight to protect his wife.

''Fearless Leader'' The Alpha snapped his eyes back to the Chief as he spoke and stepped forward. He could see the pain covering his face at the thought of letting his daughter leave with savages. ''You can see, he will not fight to honour my daughter, his wife and unborn child.'' He spoke as the Alpha crossed his arms. ''but I ask you to spare my remaining people.'' 

''He has not accepted my challenge.'' The Alpha stated as he watched the older man nod. For a moment, he watched as the Chief turned to look towards his daughter, sharing an un-worded look. It's with a nod from her after a pregnant stare, that the elder turned back and lowered his weapon.

''My daughter is yours if you will spare my tribe, but I ask you only one thing.'' The Chief spoke before pausing. Nodding, he waited for the elder to continue. ''I ask you that you let her remain with her tribe until the birth of the child and then she is yours to take to your lands.''

The Alpha stood and stared in thought. Around him, he could feel the shifting of his pack as they waited for his response. He knew that it wasn't normal to accept such a strange request or even to ask of it. But the Alpha knew what he wanted and he would do anything he could do to have her as he looked the Chief in the eye.

''I agree on my own condition.'' He spoke. ''some of my pack members and stay among your tribe until that moment. I will wait three days after the birth before I expect to travel, in this way you cannot leave and betray your word''. With each word, the Alpha stepped forward before holding his arm out towards the human Chief. It took a moment before the elder nodded and stepped forward himself and clasped their hands to forearms, binding their agreement.


	2. Chapter 2

The Chief stare at the retreating forms of the attacking pack, his eyes on the leader as he waited a few moments longer than the others. Turning to face his tribe, he took in the worried looks that plagued their faces, the nervousness in their eyes.  

‘’Collect your dead.’’ He called out, ‘’and lay them besides your homes, we will bury them first light.’’ The Chief. ‘’until then, rest and tend to any wounds you may have for tomorrow we must prepare for our guests.’’

As much as he hated the thought of everything, the thought of having those…people…beasts, whatever they were, knowing that they were probably everywhere in the woods which surrounded their tribe’s land. Turning to look towards his wife, he nodded faintly, her eyes growing soft as she turned back towards their tribe, steps soft as she moved to help look after them all.

Returning to his hut, the Chief is quiet as he moves through to the large room, the soft footsteps behind him letting him know that his daughter had followed him inside. Placing his weapon upon the table, he crosses over to the small bowl and dips his hands inside the water, warmed by the weather as he washed the blood off him.

‘’Father.’’ The words are softly spoke, echoed by the faint clatter of a spear being rested against the wall.

‘’You don’t have to do it.’’ He finally says after a few moments. Turning, he lets his hands rest at his sides, water dripping from his fingertips before he dries them on his clothing. ‘’we can think of another way to please this…group.’’ The Chief breathed out, frustration already clear in his voice.

‘’You know that there is nothing you can do.’’ She sighed, hands moving to cup her rounded stomach with a rounded touch. It wouldn’t be long before the birth of the child and he wanted to do everything he could.

Shaking his head, he moved to sit at the crude table, fingertips rubbing at his temples. ‘’there must be something, I cannot let you leave with those people. They attacked without any warning, without any reason Stiles, in the dead of night when our people were sleeping.’’

‘’That I know, but you agreed father, shook hands with their leader. If you break that pact, they will rip this tribe to shreds and there will be nothing left, not even me.’’ She spoke before walking over. Before, the Chief would know that she would kneel at his side, hands curled over his arm or leg, but now, she sat carefully in the other chair to reach out. ‘’it is clear what their leader wants and I will do anything to protect you and this tribe.’’

Looking up at his little girl, the Chief breathed out and moved his hand to cover hers, squeezing it lightly. ‘’You would.’’ He spoke quietly. ‘’but there are plenty of beautiful girls within out tribe, maybe we can offer him another.’’

‘’Father, you cannot break this treaty with them.’’ She scolded him.

‘’Please, think about this my daughter.’’ He spoke, hand moving to cup her jaw and cheek. ‘’think of your husband and the child that you are carrying.’’ The Chief said. ‘’you should think of them too.’’

‘’Please father, don’t insult me’’ Her voice was loud in the quiet of the room, her body jerking almost as his daughter pushed to her feet and started to pace, one hand pressed to her lower back and another to her stomach. ‘’I have already been insulted once tonight by my own husband.’’ She snapped angrily. ‘’and every other time we have had to defend ourselves. He does not pick up a weapon to fight at our sides. He does not defend anything.’’ She breathed out, her words almost shouted before her body deflated slightly. ‘’he is not worthy to be called my husband if he is not worthy to stand with me in battle and he is most certain not worthy to lie with me in bed if he is not willing to fight to protect his wife and child.’’

Bowing his head, the Chief sighed, he knew that his daughter was right and that she was stubborn enough that nothing would change her mind on the matter. Standing, he slowly crossed to her, his hands moving to take hers as he brought them up between them. ‘’I am proud of you, my beautiful, beautiful daughter.’’ He whispered out, a hand moving to rest against the scars on her face. ‘’You are so strong and I know that your mother would be proud of you to.’’ He smiled.

‘’Do you really think that true?’’ She asked as he nodded.

‘’Very’’ He spoke softly. ‘’and any child you may have will have a role model to look up to no matter what the future brings.’’ The Chief whispered before pulling her in to a warm hug. ‘’now, you should retire to your bed and rest, it has been a tiring night.’’

The Chief watched as his daughter smiled warmly at him, her head nodding in agreement before she was pressing a kiss to his cheek. ‘’Goodnight father, please rest yourself too.’’ She smiled as the Chief chuckled lightly and promised to do just that.

*

The morning broke with a heavy heat that stuck to their skins. Every movement made them want to stop and just rest in the shade but they refused as they carried their dead to the edge of their land and laid them out in the shade of the surrounding trees. In the attack, the Chief had lost a few good men and women to the attackers and it made him angry for it.

He, himself was not looking forward to digging the graves under the hot sun and he was sure that his people was feeling the same as they approached the small piece of land they used for a cemetery. Bringing up the back of everyone, the Chief wondered why soft murmurs were starting to raise from his people, their steps stopping as he made his way through them until he had reached the gates and stopped himself. Staring with a confused look, the Chief let his eyes run over the ground where holes had already been dug, each one deep and long enough for a person.

‘’Father’’ It was the quiet word of his daughter that had him blinking and turning to look at her, confusion still running through his body before he followed her curt nod towards the trees. There stood in the dim shadow, was the leader of the attacking tribe, eyes almost glowing and mud covering his body and arms, around him stood a few others, all the same before the leader was nodding his head, just a tilt before they turned away and vanished through the trees.

‘’What do you think it means?’’

It was the same question that the Chief himself was asking himself as he stared at their retreating forms, it didn’t make any sense at all for them to help bury the people that they had killed. But at the same time, the Chief was thankful that they did not have to spend longer in the hot sun than they had all really wanted too.

‘’Maybe it is their way of showing, that they can be human like us.’’ His daughter supplied quietly, answering her own question. ‘’that they are kind and caring as well as fierce killers.’’


	3. Chapter 3

The Alpha watched.

He waited.

He took notice of all the things that they did within their small village of huts and land as he walked freely. From his vantage point outside of the hut that the chief had gifted to himself, the Alpha could see directly towards the hut the daughter stayed in. He had watched, almost in satisfaction when the chief and his daughter saw the weak husband out, casting him to the outskirts of the village where his own pack had reported back his struggles. He was smug almost really, the only thing he didn’t like was the fact that she was round with the man’s child, the Alpha thought that it wasn’t right that such a weak person could create a life within a strong person, but he would look after the child as if it was his own, he wouldn’t cast an innocent child out when they couldn’t help who their father was.

It had been nearly a week since they had been there and he hadn’t seen much action happening, other than the villagers moving around, dealing with their daily chores and jobs. It made the Alpha wonder how the daughter got her war wounds. The tribe seemed peaceful, at ease. They had quickly adapted to the presence of his pack members within their numbers.

***

It was a cool night when he walked to the river bank to bathe, the sky was clear of clouds and the moon shone brightly amongst the stars. The village was quiet, most of the tribe either asleep or sitting quietly around the fire that warmed most of the villagers. Crouching down beside the water, the Alpha reached out and lightly cupped his hands beneath the flow before raising them to his lips, sipping at the cold liquid before he was standing again, his movements flowing as he half turned, eyes moving between the trees.  
He had been sure that he had heard a noise, almost the sound of branches cracking under footfalls before the woods fell silent around him again. Disregarding the noise as the forest settling, the Alpha turned back and slowly stripped of his furs and linin, leaving them to cool on the rocks as he stepped silently in to the water, moving easily through the slow flow until it was just above the dips in his back.

Washing the dirt and grime from his skin, the wolf made sure that every inch of his skin was clean and had been washed away by the water before he lowered himself in fully, his fingers carding through his thick hair.

** *

Her footsteps had been almost silent as she followed him, her mind intrigued by the other man who had demanded her for himself. Yes, she was angry that the…the wolf, the man thought he could just take her like a piece of property, but at the same time, she knew that she would do anything to protect her father and their tribe, even if it did mean leaving them behind to live with these half man and half beasts within their own lands, wherever that might be.

She had noticed the way his eyes seemed to follow her everywhere she went. Could feel his heavy gaze upon her body as she moved around the tribe, helping others and collecting food. It frustrated her that she could not go hunting anymore, that her heavier body didn’t let her move as swiftly as she once did. But it didn’t stop her from fishing or collecting berries, her baskets pressed to her hip as she moved through the trees. Sometimes he would stay back, almost hidden in the tree’s shadows, other times the leader would let himself be seen, clearly known that he was watching her. She had often caught him staring at her rounded stomach and she wondered what he would be thinking, whether she would be allowed to take her child with her when they left, of if he would demand it to be kept behind. Something she didn’t know how to feel about.

She tried to follow him the best she could, more often or not she would turn back and hide away in her hut, cheeks ablaze with warmth after being caught by one of his tribe members, their knowing smiles making her heart beat double. But she couldn’t help herself. Their Alpha was a strong man, she could see that the moment they had attacked, the way he stood and held himself, he was a proud man, protective over his tribe. But as much as he watched her, she watched him back. Watched the way his muscles would shift under his skin as he walked, the way he helped his pack members with things.

She had been sure that she was caught when he had turned at the river to stare at the trees, his eyes had moved right over her from where she hid behind a tree. Seeing him slip from his hut and move away to the tree’s along, she couldn’t help but follow, keeping a slow pace behind him, being careful of her steps until they reached the water.  He was an attractive man, a good warrior, even if his body held no stories. She wouldn’t have believed their healing if she had not seen it before her own eyes. Watching as he entered the water, her breath caught in her throat at his nakedness, she had been lost in thought and missed the moment he had undressed.   
But as he washed himself in the river’s water, she pressed her hands to the tree trunk, her skin flushed. The Alpha was the second man in her life she had seen nude, her husband being the first. And even from his behind, she knew that he would be strong in every other way too, and that worried her. She knew that being taking as his, she would probably be expected to bare him young, to carry his tribe on through children. Turning away, she pressed her back against the rough trunk, her breath a little heavier in her throat as she closed her eyes. She was scared, no matter how strong she was herself, she felt like a little girl again, not knowing what was going to happen to her. As her fear built, she opened her eyes again, body tilting to see the Alpha in the water still, his form still as his head tilted at an angle.

She had seen this before, the way he would scent at the air. Pushing away from the tree, she rushed back to the village as quickly and as quietly as she could. Once she was back in her own hut safely, she fell to her knees carefully on her furs and rested with her hands buried in to their softness, her breath heavy and fast as she tried to calm herself. Her mind could often drawer out images of things happening, most of the time, they, being of the worst kind, but the unknown of this tribe scared her as she turned to lay and cover herself up. She wanted to go to her father and curl in to his side like she did as a child, but at the same time, she knew that if she showed a hint of worry and fear about going with the wolves, that he would find a way of stopping the treaty going ahead, something she didn’t want to happen.

She wasn’t sure when it happened, but at some point, she had slipped in to a restless sleep, only to be woken close to dawn by a sharp pain in her stomach. Doubling over, she clutched at her stomach and panted through it before it faded and let her uncurl again.  Laying there, she rubbed soothing circles against the taunt skin until she felt ready enough to raise and join the others for breakfast.

‘’You look tired, did you not sleep well?’’ Looking up towards her father, she smiled warmly before pressing a kiss to his cheek before moving to sit at their small table, their knees knocking underneath.

‘’A little, I had some bad dreams, nothing to worry too much over.’’ She replied truthfully, now that she was in the light of the day, she could tell that she had been foolish to worry over so much. For all she knew, this new tribe would treat her with kindness and would be a place she would fit in straight away. ‘’are there any chores for me to do today father?’’ She asked in hopes that he would stop looking at her like he was.

‘’No, everything has been done that you would need to do.’’ He smiled. ‘’you should rest up by the fire with the others, I think they are creating baskets for the half-men to take away with them.’’ The Chief chuckled. ‘’maybe you should try and improve your weaving skills.’’ He teased her.

Rolling her eyes at the playful teasing, she shook her head and carried on eating, her hand resting lightly against her stomach. ‘’I think I might join them, even if I don’t try, it would be nice to sit and relax for a while father.’’ She told him honestly. ‘’I feel like it should be soon that my child will be here, and I’m still not prepared for that moment.’’ She admitted before raising her eyes to watch her father as he put his wooden cup down.

‘’Your mother was the same Stiles.’’ He spoke. ‘’she was afraid of the moment you were born, that she wouldn’t be ready to look after a child.’’ The chief told her. ‘’she just knew that you were nearly ready to join the world, would keep rubbing her stomach and complain about feeling heavier.’’ The Chief smiled faintly. ‘’within two days of her saying that, you were born, screaming in to the night. But you will do just fine my daughter, you’re strong just like your mother was.’’

Hearing the story, Stiles felt a little relieved and a little better about everything as she nodded and finished her breakfast off. Her father’s words repeated through her mind as she bid him goodbye and headed out to join the other women of the tribe near the fire, their hands neatly bending and weaving branches between each other to create their baskets.

It was a skill she didn’t really have, her fingers to clumsy would often break the branches by bending them too far, or loose the shape of her basket within a few minutes of starting. But she knew it was something she had to try and learn as well. She may be a warrior at heart, her fingers easily threading thinner strands through bent wood to create a bow, her steps light as she runs through woods hunting, but she needed domestic skills too, something she never really felt interested in learning.

‘’I wondered when you would decide to join us.’’ A fair red head spoke, a smile teasing her lips as Stiles moved to sit carefully on a log lined with fur. ‘’or is your father making you practise?’’ she asked.

‘’He made a commented about joining.’’ She replied with a soft shrug, ‘’but I decided that it would be a good chance to rest and to improve too, after all, I do not know what lay in store for me once I leave and I want to be able to do most domestic things.’’ She admitted lightly before taking some branches of another maiden.

‘’I think that is a wise decision.’’ Her friend said. ‘’and we will help you in any way you need.’’

Smiling warmly at her friends, Stiles soon got lost in weaving the baskets, her strands wonky and uneven as she was guided a few times and had to restart a couple as well. By the time she had gotten nearly half way, she couldn’t help but let a small gasp out as a pain rocked through her stomach again. The feeling leaving her gasping for breath as she dropped her work and clutched at her stomach as another ran through and a wetness appeared between her legs.

Around her, her friends made their own noises, a few laughs appearing before their breathes turned in to gasps themselves. Hearing them start moving around her, Stiles kept her eyes shut against the pain, missing the panicked and scared looks which appeared on her friends faces.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do have to give a warning that there is mention of a loss of a child, nothing is giving in details or in a way that I think might upset someone if they have gone through the same experience. I do apologize now for any upset that I might cause with this chapter. It had taken me a long time to write this because I was trying to find a way that I could come across the subject in a more tender and careful way.

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

 

 

He slinks around on four paws, watching the others as they watch him and whisper. ‘Too early’ some whisper behind shielded hands, ‘too much stress on the poor girl.’ Others, he wants to sneer and growl at, bare his teeth. The whispers of him being at fault for the babe. But he knows the truth, it just wasn’t strong enough for this world. It wasn’t something to whisper about behind their backs, some babes were just destined to be with their ancestors, to be with the ones lost too soon. As he walks, he can see his own kind, gathering fruits and berries, gathering offerings to the gods that they don’t believe in, to help the daughter of the chief. But he can see it in their eyes whenever he wonders close to the main hut, the fear and loathing, the hatred, the blame for choosing her.

He doesn’t see the banished husband appear at any point while he lays, just inside the shade of the trees. Sees lots of women and others coming and going to relay their grief and their whispers of hope and love. His nose burns with the bitterness of sorrow and with loss, knows the smells of grief and death ever so well as he pushes to his feet and stretches, his head tilted to the darkening sky around them. He knows that time is needed to start healing what has been broken, and as he turns and pads silently in to the woods, the Alpha knows that he will return soon enough to claim the women he had chosen as his mate.

***

The chief is surprised at first, when the wolves bring their offerings, their heads bowed in respect and lips silently closed as they laid their gifts down at the door. He watches as, not even one of them asks to pass through the door and through to his daughter as she mourned. He knows of the whispers which has spread through their village, the whispers against the wolves who had attacked and laid claim to her, to the whispers of the Alpha of being the cause of the early birth. But he had seen it plenty of times in his life, he knew that it was not something that they could’ve predicted for anyone to happen.

It was in fates hands.

The hut was quiet once the visitors had started to trickle out, each person being turned away with quiet words and of thanks once they had passed their message on. He waited for the one person to come, the father and his daughter’s husband, but he never showed, and the chief knew that it added to the extra weight of her shoulders, knowing that she was carrying the pain alone. Sitting by his daughter’s bedside, the chief stared out in to the fading light of the window beside him. Watched as the Alpha watched the going-on’s. He had come to respect the wolf, in the silent way he walked around the village and the way his own clan treated him with the same respect he gave back to them. He saw how he had stayed close to the main hut, eyes flickering back and forth, watching, waiting for something to happen.   
When he saw the wolf raise to his feet and stare towards the sky, the chief slowly and quietly rose from his own chair, his feet leading him through the hut until he stepped out in to the tacky air.

‘’Alpha.’’ The chief spoke quietly, knowing that the wolf had heard as the large head turned and pierced him with the eyes they had feared and still feared. ‘’I understand that you wished to leave when…when the child was born.’’ He fought to get out, his feet shifting in the dirt as he took a breath and let it out slower, his eyes closing for a moment.

It was within that moment that the wolf had changed back to the man he had spoken with only days before, the dark-haired man that had not only sent fear through the village, but some of the women to question themselves on what they had thought of the savages they had called the beasts. ‘’You are a strong man.’’ Looking to the wolf, the chief watched as the Alpha spoke, his eyes dark in the twilight. ‘’your daughter stronger. But a passing has happened this day and that is not an easy task to comply with.’’ The wolf told him. ‘’The hour of darkness is upon us and so is my leave.’’

The words had surprised the older man, his lighter eyes dragging up to search the Alpha’s face intently, looking for any sign that a lie had been spoken. ‘’But be warned.’’ The wolf spoke. ‘’I will return for your daughter when the time is right. She has suffered a loss that cannot be giving a limit of time, I put my trust in to your words that you will withhold your promise to me and take with me my pack. But we will be back when the seasons change over, and the moon is high.’’

Watching as the man turned, the chief let a shallow breath fall from between his lips before he took a step towards the beast. With trembling fingers, he held out his hand, his wrist and arm bare as he nodded solemnly. ‘’You have my spoken word Alpha. But that of my daughter’s as well. She speaks her own mind and I know that I would and could not change her mind in anyway.’’ He told the taller man, the warmth clear in his limbs as he reached out to join their arms together, embracing. ‘’You have shown us many things in your stay here and I have learnt a lot from watching you and your kind. I know that she would be protected wherever it is you go with her.’’

‘’Your daughter would be treated as my equal and by my side.’’ The alpha replied swiftly as he let the chiefs arm go. ‘’You should return to her side, she is stirring, and heart is high, she will be needing her father in these coming days. May your gods be with you and your loved ones.’’

The chief stood for a few moments more, watching the back of the Alpha as he turned and faded through the trees, around him, he could hear the quiet footfalls of others moving around and leaving before the whimpers of his daughter drew his attention back to the hut. Returning quickly, he moved and knelt beside her, his fingers drawing to close around hers as she trembled, and tears ran down her cheeks. ‘’He is gone?’’ She asked as he nodded.

‘’He has.’’ He replied honestly to her as she curled towards him and he reached up with a free hand to pet down her hair softly, almost a reminder of her childhood after a bad dream. ‘’But he shall return one day my daughter.’’ He spoke in a tender voice. ‘’but he speaks of loss like yours as one he knows deeply. He has earned my respect for how he is treating you. I feared the worse, that he would still want to leave with you, so soon after, but he has taken his people and left.’’ He whispered. ‘’But rest now, there are many things that must be done in the coming days and you will need all the strength that you can muster to do so.’’

Sitting beside her bed, the chief watched as Stiles’ eyes closed against the tiredness in her body, her fingers strong against his before they grew lack with sleep. He knew that she was strong, that she had grown through hard times and faced many dangers. Reaching out, he stroked light fingers across the scars on her face, so close to her glowing eyes that he had had nightmares for months after the animal had attacked her. So young when it had happened, yet she had been so strong and had only shred a few tears before pulling herself up and ordered a hunt to be concluded for the beast that had attacked her and had taken her mother away from her.

No matter how grown she had become, she was still his child, his little girl in his eyes as he drew the furs closer around her shoulders. The chief would try and shield her from as much as he could, for however long that he could do it for. He knew that once the Alpha returned for her, the chief knew that it would be a long time before he would get to see her again, if he ever got to see his daughter again.

And that thought is what brought tears back to his own eyes again.


End file.
